


Five

by girlwhowasntthere



Category: Atlantis (UK TV)
Genre: Betrayal, Dark, F/M, M/M, Manipulative Relationship, Murder, Non-Explicit Sex, Non-Graphic Violence, Partner Betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 18:04:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2782520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwhowasntthere/pseuds/girlwhowasntthere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His heart will blacken.  He will be consumed by hatred.  And he will be lost to us forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five

**Author's Note:**

> Written after 2x04, and goes AU from there (they never found Jason after he and Medea fell).

They leave for Aegina over seventy strong.  They return as three.  Pythagoras, Hercules, and a badly-injured queen who is no man's wife. 

Critias meets them as they enter the city gates, yet before any words are exchanged, they're swept up by the crowd and the remaining palace guards.  Pythagoras would normally try to seek the man out and offer comfort, but he lets himself be carried on with the wave of people.  They'll see Ariadne safely returned to her throne, and then he and Hercules will go home.  It's not his job to break the fateful news to the man they barely know.

They'd fought side-by-side briefly, and Pythagoras knows Critias had saved Dion's life during the siege.  He shouldn't have.  He'd saved the General only for him to meet a far crueler fate.  He'd say as much.  He and Hercules don't need another friend.

When they finally make it back to the house, Pythagoras bathes and eats, then he throws a bag onto the table in the main room and begins packing.  Hercules lays a hand over his.  "Stop."

"We have to go back," Pythagoras counters.

"No," he says softly, and there are unshed tears in his eyes.

Pythagoras glances at the bed in the corner of the room.  "I need to know."

Hercules shakes his head.  "We already know. "

"What if he's like Dion?"  Pythagoras closes his eyes.  They can't leave him like that.

Hercules' hand closes around his.  "I can't lose you both."

Pythagoras slowly returns his gathered supplies to the shelves.  Then he cries.

.....

For the next month, Pythagoras dreams every night of Ariadne's scream, echoing forever off cave walls.  It begins to sound a lot like his own voice.

.....

And life goes on.  

They serve their queen.  Hercules takes a paid position with her guard.  Pythagoras' wisdom is sought as an advisor and closest council. 

Ariadne receives four more requests for her hand; she rejects them all.

A year passes, and Atlantis doesn't fall.

Pythagoras begins spending more of his days in the library, or with Daedalus in his workshop.  The inventor's foolish son returns from his travels, a grown man instead of a mischievous youth, and he swears to Pythagoras that he's no longer a fool.

And life gets better.

.....

News reaches Atlantis that Princess Medea has married the King of Troy, securing a peace treaty between Troy and Colchis. 

Ariadne prays in the temple to Poseidon every day that they not turn their combined armies toward Crete.

A fortnight later comes word of King Aeëtes' death.  Instead of Medea, it is Pasiphae who ascends to the throne of Colchis. 

.....

Byzantium falls to Colchis.  Troy doesn't stand in the way, and Lesbos falls.  As does Chios.

Pythagoras joins Ariadne in the temple by day, and Icarus holds him in his arms through the nights as Delos, Naxos, and Cos burn.

By some miracle, they don't take Samos.

.....

"They have her," Hercules cries as Pythagoras and Icarus drag him home from the tavern.  "They have her."

Rumors are that every last man in Aegina has been turned to stone.

They travel to the caves and find a body without a head.  Hercules is inconsolable.

.....

Some say Thera is claimed by fire, some say stone.

War is on the wind for Atlantis.

.....

The messenger arrives under a white flag.  He delivers a box for Queen Ariadne.  Fearing it may contain some type of poison or trickery, Pythagoras carefully opens it.  Inside is Pasiphae's severed head and a note.

Pythagoras reads it and then turns to his Queen.  "It's a wedding present," he informs her, "from the _King_ of Colchis.  He's requesting your hand."

She takes the blood-stained paper from him.  "This makes no sense, Pasiphae had no husband since..." 

Pythagoras' palms are suddenly sweaty and cold, and his heart is beating way too fast in his chest.  "What about a son?" he asks around the mysterious lump in his throat.

"Or a nephew," Ariadne says.

Something in Pythagoras' chest breaks.  Of course.  Heptarian still lives.  He'd been stabbed, but no one had retrieved a body.  It's entirely possible that he survived.  More possible than if he'd fallen from a cliff and been buried under a slide of rocks.  "You cannot agree to this," Pythagoras advises.

"I have no choice."

.....

They ride out to meet the Colchean messenger at sunrise.  Hercules is hung-over, but to his credit, he's present.  And Pythagoras and Icarus would be nowhere else than by his side.

They deliver the Queen's answer.  Yes.

.....

It's a two-day journey to the encampment.  Ariadne rides with her chin high, a speck of blue amongst a sea of red cloaks and flags.  She takes no retinue but three.

When they arrive, the valley is alight with torch fire, despite that it's still daylight.  A tribute to war God Ares.

They're escorted into the command tent.  A man sits on a throne in shadows against the far side.

"Leave us," the King orders, his voice deep and strong and somehow familiar.   

The guards obey. 

The man slowly stands and steps forward.  His clothing is the richest red, his leather armor emblazed with flames at his wrists and a sun upon his chest.  Yet the golden pendant at his throat does not bear a symbol of Ares.

Pythagoras is the first to gasp, to recognize him.  He is the true heir of Colchis, but he is not Heptarian.

"If the choice had been mine alone," he says, "I would not have left you for one moment."

"Jason!" Ariadne exclaims.  It's the first time Pythagoras and Hercules have heard her say that name since it rebounded from stone depths.  "How is this possible?"

"He's Pasiphae's son," Hercules says.

Jason's eyes dart to him, and there's something dark and dangerous there for an instant before it's gone.  Then his gaze lands on Icarus.  "I don't know you."

He holds out his hand in greeting.  "Icarus, sire."

"That's a shame," Jason says blandly, ignoring the proffered hand.  "Go.  I must speak with my betrothed alone."

"We thought you dead," Pythagoras says.  He doesn't know why, he just does.  He needs for Jason to understand.

Jason turns to him, and his voice goes quiet and gentle as he replies, "I know."

.....

"There's something about this that's not right," Hercules says.

"What isn't right?" Pythagoras asks in confusion.  "Jason's alive.  It's wonderful."

"Pythagoras," Icarus says softly, "I know he was your friend once, but--"

"And he still is!" Pythagoras reiterates.  He looks to Hercules to back him up.

"He beheaded his own mother as an engagement gift," Hercules says instead.

"She deserved it."  Is that really up for debate?

Hercules shakes his head.  "I can't believe you of all people are justifying his actions."

"Me of all people?" he repeats.  "How are you not?  Especially after what happened to Medusa."

Hercules flinches like he's just been struck.  "We don't know it was Pasiphae who killed Medusa," he replies with a calmness that must be taking all his resolve to maintain.

Icarus places a hand on Pythagoras' arm.  "Just keep your eyes open, alright?  We don't know what Jason has been through, if it's changed him.  We don't want you getting hurt."

He shakes the hand off.  "Jason would never hurt me.  And I certainly hope you aren't suggesting he hurt Medusa.  He's our King now."

"Our fealty is to our Queen."

"I'm not having this conversation," Pythagoras says.  "I'm going to go before somebody says something they'll regret."  He quickly walks away.

.....

Once Pythagoras, Hercules, and Icarus are gone, Jason returns to his throne and sits.  Ariadne is left standing.  "Well," he says, "shall we discuss terms?"

"Terms?" she asks.

"I have a few conditions before we finalize any arrangements."

She nods regally.  "As do I."

Jason laughs.  "I, of course, am in a position to raze Atlantis to the ground."

She worries that she can't tell whether he's joking.  "Name your terms."

"The Oracle."  He leans forward.  "I want her dead."

Ariadne fights to conceal her surprise.  She'd been expecting politics: lands, treaties, borders, council, trading...  Jason has just demanded a life.  "Why?"

"Treason," he states.  He says no more than that.

She nods.  If that's found to be true, then so be it.  "What else?"

Jason lets his eyes roam over her.  "Remove your clothes."

She tenses.  "After the wedding."

Jason stands.  "That wasn't a request."  He moves closer and grips her shoulders, then pushes her dress off them.  It falls to pool at her feet.  He plucks at her under dress.  "This too."

She smiles as flirtatiously as possible to hide her fear.  "Do I get to gaze upon you as well?"

"In good time.  Now raise your arms, or I'll slice it off."  When she hesitates, he adds, "I'm sure you understand.  More than ever, everything I do must serve to protect Colchis."

It's her own words thrown back at her.  Where is that beautiful boy who'd once vowed to protect her?  She'd loved him.  She slowly raises her arms, and Jason tugs the last of her modesty up over her head.  She crosses her arms over her breasts, and he merely shoves them back to her sides.  He walks a full circle around her, studying her.

His gaze doesn't feel strictly sexual.  It's more like he's inspecting a horse before purchasing.  His eyes finally settle on the scar on her belly.  She'd gotten it shortly after they'd lost him.  Jason places his hand over it, and he seems concerned.  Her heart warms slightly.  He's checking her for injuries acquired in his absence.  "I'm fine," she assures him.

"You're damaged," he replies.  "I can't take a wife who can't conceive.  I need an heir."

"I'm not barren."

He stares into her eyes for a long moment.  "Very well."

She bends to retrieve her clothing.

"No," Jason says.  "I have something else in mind."

.....

When Ariadne leaves his tent, she's wearing a new dress, sewn from the popular red and black fabrics of Colchis. She looks every inch like she belongs on Jason's arm. A part of her yearns to be adorned once more in familiar blue and gold.

.....

They're to rise at first light for the trek back to Atlantis.   Pythagoras is waken while it's still dark by commotion in the camp.  Hercules is absent. 

"Stay with the Queen," Icarus tells him and goes to investigate.

When he returns, he wraps Pythagoras in his arms.  "I'm so sorry," he repeats, over and over again.

"What's happened?" Ariadne asks.

Pythagoras frees himself from the embrace, but Icarus is instantly blocking his path again.  "Stop, Pythagoras, please.  You don't want to see." 

.....

Hercules has been turned to stone.  With a sword through his back.

Pythagoras' breath leaves him, and his knees go weak, and it's only Icarus' support that keeps him standing.

"I saw the King.  His sword wasn't in its sheath," Icarus says.

Pythagoras refuses to hear him.

.....

"I didn't want this," Jason swears.  "I loved him.  As I love you."

Pythagoras places his hand on the hilt of Jason's sword, secured in its sheath at his side.  Jason holds up his hand to stop the movement of his guards.  Their words may be private, but they are still being watched.  Pythagoras withdraws his hand.  "Why do you still have her head?"

There are tears in Jason's eyes that he quickly blinks away.  "I have unfinished business in Troy."

"And after that?" Pythagoras asks.

"We'll bury her beside Hercules."

They stand in silence for a minute. 

"Tell me you still love me as well," Jason requests, almost a plea.

"Yes," Pythagoras answers.

.....

The death of her guard is deemed a tragic accident, and Queen Ariadne returns home betrothed.

Icarus rides at her side.  Pythagoras rides beside Jason.

.....

The Oracle is brought before them.  Ariadne sits in judgment upon the center throne.  Jason is at her right hand.  They are not yet married, her word is still unquestioned law.

"You are accused of treason against both Atlantis and Colchis," she states.  "I shall decide if you're to be punished by banishment or by death."

Jason glances at Ariadne sharply, then turns a hateful glare upon the woman on her knees before them.  "Do you deny the charges?" Jason asks.

She says nothing.

"I shall hear the reason for the accusation," Ariadne says.

Jason stands.  "Did you deliberately hide my parentage from me?" he asks the Oracle.  "Speak!"

"Yes."

The answer only serves to anger him.  "You instructed Hercules to lie to me as well."

"Yes."

Jason narrows his eyes at her.  "And Pythagoras?"  He must know if both his friends had betrayed him.

"No."

Jason unclenches his fists slightly.  He thanks the Gods for that.  He couldn't bear it if Pythagoras were to break his heart as well.  He changes topic.  "You knew Sarpedon was a traitor?"

"Yes."

"And do you also admit you told me if I did not follow your guidance, thousands would die and Atlantis would be destroyed?"  His voice rises unintentionally.

"Yes."

"Did you tell Hercules similar?"

"Yes."  She raises her head and meets Jason's eyes.  "Every word I spoke was truth."

"LIAR!" he shouts at her.  "You use people for your own purposes!  You made me believe it was my fate to kill my friend!"  He has no control over his temper any longer.  "She'd done nothing wrong!"

"I've heard enough," Ariadne declares.  "The treason charge stands.  You'll die tonight when the moon is at its highest."  She then orders the guards to take the old woman away, to listen to nothing she says for she will seek to manipulate them.

When the room is clear, Jason falls at Ariadne's feet and thanks her.  "You've no idea what I saw when she forced poison down my throat," he cries, clinging to her skirts.  "And the terrible things she made me do..."

She brushes her fingers soothingly through his hair.  "It's over now, Jason," she tells him.  "The Gods will punish her."

.....

The Oracle's screams resound from within the brazen bull.

.....

At Jason's insistence, Ariadne wears white to their wedding as a symbol of her purity.  It feels like both sacrifice and surrender. 

Jason wears blood red.

Pythagoras cheers from the crowd. 

.....

Their first night as husband and wife, Jason does not bed her gently.  He takes her without romance or finesse.  She's innocent in the ways of man and woman, only having witnessed the mating of dogs, or mares being given to a stallion for breeding, so Ariadne supposes that's simply the way of sex, and she'll get used to it.

She doesn't know why she'd thought it would be any different.  That Jason would make it different.

.....

After a fortnight, Jason returns to his army with plans to invade Troy before Queen Medea is able to mount a retaliation.  Ariadne wishes him a safe journey, and sends him on his way with Pythagoras and Icarus as part of the envoy to see him off.

"Which one is yours?" Pythagoras asks when they reach the edge of the valley and look out over all the war ships with their intimidating red sails.  "I mean, all of them, of course, but--"

Jason grins and points.  "That one.  Argo."  His grin becomes a bit more cocky.  "Want a tour?"

"Yes," Pythagoras agrees enthusiastically.  He fails to notice or care that the invitation was only extended to him and not Icarus as well.

.....

They're alone, finally, in Jason's personal chambers aboard ship, and he lets all kingly pretense drop.  "I've missed you," he says.

"And I you."  Pythagoras moves easily into Jason's space, entirely improper for a King and a commoner.  Jason pulls him even closer still.  "I never wanted to believe you were really gone."

"It wasn't easy for me either," Jason confesses.

"No, I can't imagine it was.  And I can't bear the thought of you leaving again.  I don't know how Ariadne can tolerate it."

"Come with me to Troy," Jason requests suddenly.  "It's not Ariadne I can't be without."  He places a kiss upon Pythagoras' forehead, then begins trailing his lips down.

Pythagoras gently pushes him back, even though it's all he's ever wanted.  "Jason... she's your wife now."

He sighs.  "A marriage of duty.  The time when we thought we were in love has long since passed.  She needed an alliance; I need an heir.  Medea was... unable to provide me one."

"How would you know that..."  Jason looks at Pythagoras like he's being naive.  Oh.  Yet there's a trace of pain in Jason's eyes which tells of more to the story that isn't simple or obvious.

"And you?" Jason inquires casually, the lightness in his tone feeling forced.  "Your hesitance is not solely on Ariadne's behalf?"

"No.  I do have a duty to her, but..."

Jason pours himself a cup of wine and takes a slow sip.  He then pours one for Pythagoras as well.  "Tell me your feelings aren't for Icarus," he says as he hands him the cup.

"Why shouldn't they be?"  He swirls the liquid around a bit.  The color is very deep, obviously much less watered than he's accustomed to.

"Please, Pythagoras, tell me anyone else has caught your eye but him."

"I cannot," he confesses, looking up from his inspection of the wine to study Jason's reaction instead.  "Why does it trouble you so?"

Jason is looking at him with unmasked despair.  "You'll find no happiness there.  I know how it ends."

His drink is all but forgotten.  "How?"

"Come away with me," Jason says again.  This time when he pulls Pythagoras to him, he claims his lips.

Pythagoras accidentally sloshes wine all down his trousers, then drops the cup entirely.  He kisses Jason back with equaled passion.

"Swear your allegiance to me," Jason whispers in his ear.  "Say you belong to me above all others."

"Yes," Pythagoras promises, "I swear."

Then Jason grasps his wrist tightly, and something in his palm burns against Pythagoras' skin like fire and he hisses at the intensity of it.  Jason's eyes glow like embers and then fade.  He releases his hold and Pythagoras stares at the mark on his skin.

Jason raises his own cup to Pythagoras' lips.  "Drink.  It will ease the pain."

He swallows several large gulps, and it is indeed strong and goes immediately to his head.  "What is this?"

"You're mine now," Jason answers possessively.  "Nobody will dare touch you.  You have my protection.  If you decide to travel with me, I swear to you you'll be safe."

It's somehow both alarming and comforting.  But he has nothing to fear from Jason, he trusts him absolutely.

"Stay with me tonight."  It's not a question, but it's not a command either.  "Give me your answer in the morning."

Pythagoras finishes the wine, and Jason tugs him towards his bed.

.....

He wakes naked and tangled in expensive sheets, his body aching pleasantly all over.  Pythagoras pushes himself up and winces.  Some places not so pleasantly.  He feels his cheeks flush warm.  Jason had been a very thorough lover.

He crawls out of bed and finds both breakfast and fresh clothing laid out for him.  He pops a grape into his mouth and smiles because Jason has remembered his fondness for them, then he turns his attention to the clothing.  The trousers are dark and the tunic red.  There's also a fine leather breastplate, suitable for going to battle beside a king.  Jason hasn't just presumed to know his answer, has he?  Although Pythagoras does perhaps recall shouting yes while Jason had thrust deeply inside of him.

Surely it's nothing but a thoughtful gesture as he'd ruined his own garments with wine.  They'd been a bit too preoccupied to stop and launder his clothing before it could stain.

.....

"I'm going with Jason to Troy."

Icarus eyes his new clothes warily.  "Are you asking my opinion?  Is this a discussion we're having, or are you just informing me?"

"I'm asking for your blessing.  I want you and I to remain friends."

"You don't have it.  Pythagoras, you've not thought this through."

"I have," he explains.  "Hercules is gone and there is nothing for me here anymore."

"I've so quickly gone from friend to nothing?"  There's so much hurt in his voice, and Pythagoras hates that he's the cause of it.  "Will you even remember my name with your next breath?"

"You know you're dear to me, Icarus."

"Clearly not as dear as I'd hoped."  He gazes at Pythagoras with sorrow.  "Not nearly so dear as I hold you."

"I'm sorry."  Pythagoras reaches up to cup the other man's face in his palm and wipe away his tears.

Icarus latches onto his hand and yanks it down where he can look at it properly.   "You'd lie with a man who branded you?!"

"It's not like that."

"Isn't it?!"

"Please be happy for me," Pythagoras begs.  He wants so desperately for Icarus to understand.  "It's Jason.  _My_ Jason."

"He's not yours," Icarus argues, "he's married to another!" 

.....

Jason has returned from the Argo to oversee the dispatchment of the camp.  At dusk, he slips away from his guards to watch the sunset from the cliff which looks down across the Icaria Valley.  A final moment to himself before weeks confined to a ship.

"If you care for him at all, don't take him with you," Icarus says from behind him.

Jason turns away from the burning sky.  "He's made his choice."

"I know Hercules' death was no accident, and it wasn't one of your guards who put a sword through him upon discovering him snooping in your chambers. That guard would have been turned to stone as well.  You murdered him... and Medusa before that, I suspect."

"Bold accusations against a king."  Jason keeps the drop-off to his back.  It seems the weaker position, but if it comes to it, Icarus will have to fight into the sun.  If he chooses to take Jason on, he'll do so nearly blind.

"You took her head," he states.  "The same as you did Pasiphae's."  He takes a step forward.  "Was it even about her, the reason you killed Hercules?  Or if Pythagoras had hidden the truth from you as well, would you have done the same to him?  Would it have been his neck or his heart that you put your blade through?  How long before he gets in the path of your temper?"

"You needn't worry."  It almost sweet, the man's concern for Pythagoras, although terribly misguided.  "Pythagoras will never betray me."

"He will if he learns the truth!"

It's Jason who lunges.  He gets his arms around the other man with skilled ease.  "Then I'll see that he never hears it."  He twists sharply and snaps Icarus' neck.  Then Jason pivots and shoves him from the cliff.  He falls into the last glow of the setting sun, then his body smacks the rocks on the valley floor with finality.

Well, that's ironic, Jason thinks.

.....

Pythagoras' nightmare returns.  He dreams of a man with dark, curly hair... falling. 

When he wakes, he can't remember if it was Icarus or Jason whose name he'd cried out for.

.....

Once Troy is firmly within their grasp, and Pythagoras has finished washing Medea's blood from Jason's skin, Jason turns their sails and points the fleet toward Athens.

 

 

  
art by aislinceivun


End file.
